Densha De Go Ds Views

• Video Games

Densha de Go! (電車でGO!, Densha de GO! (Lit: Go By (electric)Train)?) is a Japanese train simulation game series previously produced by Taito but, beyond Densha de Go! Final, are now produced by Square-Enix. The game originates from a 1996 arcade version. There are also PC versions released by the Japanese publisher Unbalance. All of the games in the series are available in Japanese only. The latest chapter in the series was released on July 22, 2010 for the Nintendo DS.

Each Densha de Go title contains actual train (or tram) routes based on real services in Japan. For the most part, the user's task is to drive the train and adhere to a very exacting timetable, including stopping at stations to within as little as 30Q cm of a prescribed stopping point, ideally within half a second of the scheduled arrival time. While the specifics vary slightly between versions, generally speaking along the way, the user is expected to obey speed limits and other posted signs, sound a warning for work parties along the track, arrive at between-station waypoints on time, and perform similar tasks.

Densha de Go varies from the Train Simulator series from Ongakukan primarily in that while the Ongakukan series uses video taken from cameras mounted to the front of real-world trains for its graphics, Densha de Go titles rely upon computer-drawn graphics. The upside to the Ongakukan approach is that the drivers view is video realistic. Upsides to the Densha de Go approach include that the gameplay can be significantly smoother (as the video-based approach is only as smooth at slow speeds as the video frame rates allow) and the gameplay can be more varied, as the programmers can dynamically change weather, time-of-day, other traffic, and similar effects.

Neither series, however, can be accurately called a true train-driving simulator, as that is not their focus. Titles such as BVE (Boso View Express), Microsoft Train Simulator, and Trainz do a more faithful job of realistic train control and physics simulation. However, to simply call Densha de Go a game and the others simulators would likewise be somewhat unfair, as the titles simulate many other aspects of the railroad experience (including fidelity to the outside world and station environment, sounds, traffic, and signalling) far more faithfully than programs which concentrate on the technical details of train driving.